Maxwell Christman

We proudly and gratefully introduce...

Maxwell Christman Newkirk

Born April 30th, 2013 at 4:39 pm

6 pounds, 7 ounces

19 1/2 inches 

Also affectionately known as "Mighty Max", "Miracle Max" and "Baby Max."


It seems to be our style (not by choice, mind you) to do things with a bit of a flair. That is my nice way of meaning drama, chaos, ridiculousness, you get the point. I've have always liked to have style. :)
Our sweet Maxwell has quite a story to tell. One more story in the Newkirk family book declaring God's faithfulness and miraculous power.


So here it goes. The semi-detailed story I have been keeping of our precious no. 3.


When I was 20 weeks pregnant with our third little boy, I was diagnosed with a rare heart tachecardia that could only be treated with a heart procedure that was unsafe during pregnancy. The safer alternative was to be on medication through the remainder of my pregnancy. But of course this came with risks too. While the medications were not considered "safe" for the baby, it was the only option. And so I became "high risk". I had multiple appointments each week to monitor the baby. We checked him multiple times a day at home with a Doppler. The Lord was answering our prayers. He seemed to be doing great! Completely unaffected by my medications and wild heart. But we kept up the appointments, scheduled a C-section because my heart couldn't handle labor and waited. It was as if everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it did.


It was a Monday night, 1 day shy of 38 weeks, when I noticed that Max was moving less than his normal, somersaulting self. I told David, we checked him multiple times on the Doppler and his heart rate was stable. There were no signs of distress. But I felt uneasy. I had a routine non stress test the next morning at 9 am. I had been having these twice a week for 6 weeks and baby always passed with flying colors. This was one closely monitored baby! So I went in for my test and reported my concerns. They hook me up, heart rate looks good. No immediate signs of distress. But he looked different. Not his normal jumpy self. The nurse described him as lazy. So they used all their tricks and tools to try and perk him up. My routine 30 minutes on the monitor had now became 2 hours and I'm starting to slightly panic. The nurse leaves the room to call my doctor. She comes back in and says "you're being admitted. You are most likely going to meet your baby today! Now would be a good time to call your husband." What!? I have a c section scheduled in 2 weeks. But his heart rate is fine, what's going on?


There are so many tiny details through the next several hours that can only be explained by the Lord's kind and loving hand on every moment of our day. He orchestrated an extremely odd and unlikely scheduling of events to have a dear friend in the same building as me right as I was finding out all this information. She was there to pray with me, drive me to the hospital, check me in and stay with me until David could get there (after frantically getting Zach from school, packing my bag (you really should do that earlier!), driving the hour to the hospital...) and even pick up Sammy from the sitter and take him home. I was freaking out on the inside and was completely panicked that our baby wasn't okay.


So we knew that the baby wasn't his "normal" self and they wanted to get him out, but nobody knew what was really going on. I guess it was a semi-emergency. He needed out, but nothings seemed urgent. Our doctor ran and did another procedure first, my anesthesiologist spent a long time researching my heart condition and how he should handle me (because our perfectly planned c-section where everyone on the team already knew my weird situation wasn't for another 2 weeks, remember?). Basically everyone got their ducks in a row. So then it's time to meet our baby. We are not sure how to process everything. We are worried but trying to remain calm. That was my one job. Keep my heart under control! This was not a good start. But again, I know my heart was in the Lord's hands. I did not have one episode, let alone a flutter, through this entire ordeal. I made it through the entire prep and c-section with no heart events. This was a pleasant and unexpected surprise to everyone involved!


At 4:39 pm on Tuesday, April 30th, we joyfully welcomed Maxwell Christman Newkirk. Baby boy no. 3. We were so relieved and overjoyed!


Shortly after his birth, it was obvious that he was not okay. Initially it seemed that nobody could put their finger on it. He just wasn't "normal". He wasn't active enough and was extremely pale. But he was breathing just fine. Hmmm...


We see again the Lord's hand on each moment. He gave wisdom to our team of nurses and doctors to run specific, non-routine tests that allowed them to quickly get to the bottom of things.
Max's hemoglobin was 5.4. Normal range for a baby at birth is between 13.5-24.


How Max was alive, let alone breathing on his own, was a miracle. Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. Our's was a little 6 pounder who came out fighting.


At this point they didn't know why, but regardless, he needed an immediate blood transfusion. I was in the recovery room alone when David came running in, telling me our baby needed a blood transfusion and that they were bringing the documents to sign. We were completely overwhelmed. With emotion, with fear, with sadness.


Countless people have asked "why is this happening to you? Haven't you suffered enough?" While at times we agree, we have had our share of medical drama the past few years, we immediately knew our answer.


We felt it the moment we held hands to pray for our son. We heard the whisper as we signed the documents for our sweet boy to get a blood transfusion less than an hour after his birth.


"If it weren't for your heart condition, you would have lost baby Max."


Without my heart condition I would not have been under close monitoring. I would not have been considered high risk. We would not have been as persistent to bathe this boy in prayer. I probably would not have noticed the slight decrease in fetal movement in the hours leading up to my appointment. For 18 weeks we had been asking why. Why did I seriously have to get a rare heart condition that requires me to take potentially dangerous medications for the baby? For 18 weeks we did not hear an answer. We felt discouraged, disillusioned and under spiritual attack.


His answer to us was clear. It was sudden and we didn't doubt it for a second. We signed those papers trusting that our Heavenly Father loved Max more then we did. He had been protecting him for 38 weeks from a deadly problem we didn't even know he had.


As the days went on, our medical team repeatedly confirmed that we were probably only hours away from losing our precious boy. When our multiple doctors experience adds up to tens of thousands of babies, we know God has a mighty plan for our little guy when we hear that they have never, EVER, in all their combined experience seen a baby with Max's hemoglobin level breathing on their own, let alone surviving with those numbers.


We had a roller coaster 6 days in the NICU. Obsessing over every number, every test result, every move of our baby boy. The fact that we were out of the NICU 6 days later is a miracle in itself. Our little boys first week was quite an adventure! We are eager to be on the sidelines of all that God has in store for our little fighter.


So I'm done asking why. If there is anything the last 4 years have taught me, it's that if you walk through trials drawing near to our Heavenly Father, you will survive. You will be angry, you will doubt his love, you will question his sovereignty. But you will always know that he is there. If you cling to him, he will give you peace. A peace that truly surpasses understanding. A peace that doesn't make sense, doesn't seem to match your reality. His answers as to why will not come quickly, but they will come suddenly.


So we continue to choose to walk near to him. It is painful. It is out of our control. It is scary. But it is the safest place to be. He has sustained our little family through a lot. We know that hard times are still to come. But we know that he will carry us through. He loves our babies more than we do. He is protecting them from evils we cannot see. We praise God for saving Maxwell. It is just one more milestone of faith in our life. We remember it, we write about it, we share our story, and we see the goodness of our God.


Max's story doesn't end here. Tune in for the most recent update...the last 6 weeks have been a doozy.


Pictures courtesy of the lovely and talented, Lindsay Willmer Photography